Claims he appeared dazed, may have consumed some substances
MAPUSA
Four days after the tragic accident snuffed out the life of the 57-year-old resort owner in Vagator, her son, Lester Albuquerque on Wednesday said that the SUV driver must have consumed some substances (drugs) as he appeared dazed and refused to help in removing the vehicle under which his mother was trapped.
Lester also said they tried to remove him (driver) from the vehicle but he refused to cooperate making it even more difficult to rescue his trapped mother.
“When I asked him (accused driver) to reverse the car if possible, he started saying...where am I? Did I park my car wrongly? I think I did not do anything. I don’t know what is happening,” Albuquerque said, while recounting the chain of events on that fateful evening.
He said the accused driver was not even aware that an accident had happened and a person was trapped under his vehicle.
“He may have consumed alcohol…but more than that I think he was on other substances. His behaviour indicated that he was sort of floating in the air. He was not ready to do anything. He refused to step out of the car and did not help a wee bit,” the late resort owner’s son said.
Lester was not present at the site at the time of the accident but rushed to the spot soon after he was informed about the accident.
He said that he along with other locals faced great difficulty to pull out the SUV in order to extricate his mother who was trapped under the car.
“It was extremely difficult to remove the SUV which had got locked. Finally, we forcefully pulled out the vehicle with the driver inside it,” he said.
He said initially everybody thought that it was just a minor accident.
He also stated that he was not aware of the Russian woman who came and removed a bag from the car but was later informed by the people present at the site.
“I think the woman must have taken the driver’s mobile,” he said.
Lester informed that Anjuna PI had assured him that he will not spare anyone in the case.
It may be recalled, the allegedly drunk driver Sachin Venu Gopal Kurup (42) was arrested on Saturday last week, on eve of Diwali, for driving his SUV in a reckless and dangerous manner into the premises of La Maior Roma resort by Jolly Jolly Lester, Vagator which resulted in the death of the resort owner Remedia Mary Albuquerque and injuring two other staff of the resort.
The accused was arrested for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and remanded to four days police custody.
